BIV Monthly Update LVIII

BIV Monthly Update LVIII – 8/6/25

"Let's hope for a low-gravity day." Mikey Schaefer - “Free Solo”

Highlights

• A pile of excellent board meetings for the BIV partnership. We are lucky to be close to such high caliber founders going through the gears. So much great progress going on across the companies, each of which represents a solution to a pressing water problem. This is a good job. 

• Seeing Cala Systems’ production facility - their ingenuity, precision, organisation, and such a good-looking unit. Can’t wait for them to turn the water heater into a thermal battery. The grid sorely needs it.  

• Two companies materially improving their positions against the odds. Execution in the face of considerable pressure. Hats off.  

• Another successful pass of an IC - our hit rate remains very high. When people get close to what we’re doing, they get it. 

• A week in Scotland with Kiyan, and two weeks in upstate NY - nice to be in the countryside. Family, water, walks, ball games, great food. Loved it. 

August Asks

• Some very interesting open rounds. Let us know if you would like details. 

• Tune into new episodes of The Fundamental Molecule: Pierre Côté - The Art of Useful Innovation and Oliver Lawal - Sunburning Water is a Good Idea. TMF is gathering momentum, it’s fun!

• Pre-order a Spout system. Buy an Irrigreen system. Pre-order a Cala Systems heat pump water heater. Use Beagle to install a home shutoff valve. 

• Point the smartest people you know to the BIV Jobs Board or talent network.

BIV Portfolio Updates

Seed Fund I

• 2S Water – U of Alberta’s Innovation Fund joined the cap table. AquaValid sensor covers pretty much every metal at the same accuracy and precision as the gold standard ICP-OES does in a lab. Impressive from Anthea and the team. 

• Aclarity – Commercial momentum is picking up in a new market segment. Getting the mobile PFAS EOx unit tuned up for Fall deployments. 

• Aquafortus – Featured by Hart Energy for its ABX Desalination process tackling Permian Basin’s produced water; fresh off a Water Technology Idol recognition at the Global Water Summit 2025.

• Beagle Services – Firmly cashflow positive, making very interesting moves into profitable adjacencies. Paul is a very serious entrepreneur. 

• CivilGrid – Now live in Arizona and Nevada, bringing centralized utility maps and historical site data to cut pre-construction delays by up to 90%. First Series A term sheet received.

• Daupler – A major milestone is moving closer, and they’re increasingly the standard for Water & Wastewater systems. Celebrating frontline lineworkers on International Lineworker Appreciation Day.

• Floodbase – Joined the EO Summit in New York to share progress on AI-driven parametric flood insurance.

• Irrigreen – Wildly impressive board meeting. Some serious stuff on the slate. Walking, chewing gum, riding a unicycle. 

• LAIIER – Excellent month - feels like the momentum is building. Amazing results from a flagship pilot. Matt and Bibi moved to Boulder, CO! Reach out, they’re awesome!

• NLine Energy – Won the Joseph M. Brillhart Innovation Award with Penn State Health for a high-impact CHP project. Massive ITC news in a good way. 

• SewerAI – Showcased at the WEF/WEAT Collections Systems and Stormwater Conference in Houston. Continuing to build at pace. 

• Shower Stream – Steady stream of DD calls for us. It looks like they will be fully capitalised shortly. 

• Spout – Will restart shipping to the first 1,000 customers in two weeks. Have been working flat out. Very impressive from the team.  

• Ziptility – Josh Hawley set to speak at the 2025 NCRWA Leadership Summit on “The Hidden Cost of Not Innovating”. Amen. Breakeven. 

• ZwitterCo – Presented at the World Biogas Summit in the UK with ESMIL Process Systems. Some major items on the slate.

Seed Fund II

• AquiSense – Oliver Lawal presented at the IUVA Asia-Pacific Symposium on UV-C LED solutions. Continues to build relentlessly.

• Aquatic Labs – Allan Adams joined 60+ climate entrepreneurs at the Rypples Regatta in Nice to showcase innovations for ocean-focused climate action.

• Cala Systems – Two recent excellent pieces - one on The Next Generation of Home Infrastrcuture is Here and The IRA May Be Ending, But the Era of the HPWH is Just Getting Started. $1.5m left of Seed-II, but not for long. 

• HOPE Hydration – Partnered with Liquid I.V. to launch fully electric “Hydratrucks” nationwide. Ridonculously cool. Intriguing new partnership with TikTok. 

• Subeca – Wired pin and ultrasonic, and the Sidewalk network coverage all performing well. Moving into the endgame for the raise. Anne doing exceptionally. 

• TeamSolve – Demoed Knowledge Twin at WIOA 2025 in Newcastle to boost field efficiency. Also sponsored the IWN Members Conference in Victoria.

• Flocean – Featured in The Wall Street Journal, World Pumps Magazine and Smart Water Magazine. Would be 6x less expensive than a recently-announced desal project in Hawaii that’s based on legacy tech. 

• AlgaFilm – Initial pilot performing exceptionally well. Design and fabrication all in place.

• Previsico – Lots of action in the marketplace. Positioning their entry into the US market nicely.

• Power & Water – Major deals moving nicely, including with Series A lead.  

• Unannounced Water Utility Software Company – Now fully capitalised, and awesome. 

• Unannounced Commercial Kitchen Company – Such a wonderful vertical, with genuinely amazing traction. Mainly because once you see it it’s blindingly obvious. Like Max Dowman. 

Growth Fund I

• Aqua Membranes – Relentless progress towards the opening of their production facility. Deep in negotiations for their second distribution partnership - this would be major.

• Daupler – A major milestone is moving closer, and they’re increasingly the standard for Water & Wastewater systems. Celebrating frontline lineworkers on International Lineworker Appreciation Day.

• Irrigreen – Wildly impressive board meeting. Some serious stuff on the slate. Walking, chewing gum, riding a unicycle. 

Work with the Burnt Islanders

• All open roles with the Burnt Islanders are advertised through the BIV Jobs Board which is accessible here

Company Pipeline

• Overall Pipeline: 1820 (+36)

• We are actively engaged with several high-quality late-stage opportunities, including some stellar first-time founders. Competition for the remaining slots in Fund II is fierce. 

• AI-driven tools for utilities remain hot, and we have been spending more time in microbiological testing, agricultural water use, supply chain climate resilience, and decarbonization within the water sector. Special shout-out to our amazing expert network for their invaluable insight across these areas and beyond. 

Market Insights

• ProPublica’s “The Drying Planet” is a must read. We are taking water out of the ground and effectively dumping it in the sea, many hundreds of times faster than we can ever hope to replenish it. That is bad. 

• Brown and Caldwell acquires Separation Processes, Inc (SPI). The deal brings together two leading water engineering firms to expand membrane treatment capabilities and improve water and wastewater services across the full water cycle.

• Water tech VC remains strong with $196.2M raised in Q1, PitchBook.

• Reuse covers only 3% of municipal freshwater use but could grow 14% annually to 2040, unlocking $340B. With 183M m³/day capacity today, scaling “new water” offers resilience, resource recovery, and climate protection, according to the World Bank.

• According to Latitude Media, global climate tech funding fell 19% in H1 2025. U.S. leads with $21.4B (51% of total); debt rises as dominant capital source. AI and emerging tech attract strategic investors amid selective VC climate.

• Desalination grabbed the eye of the FT. The NYT have their eye on water and Data Centers. We have opinions on both. 

Team

• Can’t speak highly enough about this crew. Really phenomenal work. 

• Super support from Roshane, Sage and Megan on so many things this month. Thank you.

BIV Insight/Visibility

• Christine attended “Line of Sight: H1 2025 Investment Trends,” a Sightline Climate event. Link to the webinar. She also joined the CleanTech Alliance Summer Block Party in Seattle during PNW Climate Week.

• Tom joined Imagine H2O’s Accelerator Demo Day, where startups from the 2025 cohort pitched solutions to global water challenges.

• Steve presented the Theory of a Water Startup presentation (again!) to the 2025 ImagineH2O Asia cohort.

• Jessica was present at the liquidity management panel hosted by Citizens Private Bank featuring speakers from Carta, Banneker, Weaver, and others. Might there be light at the end of the tunnel?

We’re Reading/Listening/Watching

• Steel Atlas on Bloomberg. AI-enabled service providers will dominate the next industrial frontier. 

• Veralto commits €20M to Emerald’s Global Water Fund II, backing startups in water tech and sustainability. Congrats to our friends!

• Carta Q1 2025 VC Fund Performance Report. Data from 2,500+ U.S. funds shows median IRR of 11.5% for 2017 vintage, but DPI remains low across recent years. Smaller funds grow more common; early exits remain scarce.

• U.S. private equity deal value surged 50% in H1 2025 despite fewer deals, Ropes & Gray. While LPs shift toward private credit and secondaries amid geopolitical risk, led by Asia-Pacific interest, according to Evalueserve.

• Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire discusses how stablecoins like USDC are reshaping payments and finance amid new regulation on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots.

• Finally got around to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. Exceptional. 

• The IKEA episode on acquired is great. Never raised a red cent. Built the starting capital by selling matchbooks and pens. 

• Rewatching “Free Solo” to remind myself what difficult really looks like. 

• Since a sequel is in the works, it’s good to revisit the original The Devil Wears Prada.

Thanks so much as ever.